Getting jiggy with T’Pol…
Bounty
Cast & Crew
Director: Roxann Dawson
Story By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
Screenplay By: Hans Tobeason
Teleplay By: Hans Tobeason and Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong
Starring
Scott Bakula as Captain
Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief
Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander
T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt.
Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery
as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi
Sato
John Billingsley
as Dr. Phlox
Guest Cast
Jordan Lund as Skalaar
Michael Garvey as Captain Goroth
Ed O’Ross as Gaavrin
Robert O’Reilly as Kago-Darr
Louis Ortiz as Klingon Warrior
Airdate Information
Originally Aired: May 14, 2003
Season: Two
Episode: Twenty-Six
Production: 051
What Happened
A Tellarite bounty hunter captures Archer intending to turn him over to the Klingons for a substantial reward. Meanwhile, T’Pol is infected with an alien pathogen that unleashes her primal Vulcan urges.
Review
Yeah, we knew it was coming. We knew it would suck. So, like a passed kidney stone, we can safely put T’Pol’s brush with Pon Farr behind us.
The main plot, however, wasn’t all that bad. It was too short and far too predictable, but it did keep some continuity with the rest of this season’s storyline. For that one thing, I guess, we should be thankful. Now we just have to wait and see what horror awaits us in “The Expanse.”
High Point
Holy warp coils! Continuity within the series? Say it ain’t so!
Low Point
T’Pol running half naked through the corridors. This is Star Trek, not Baywatch.
The Scores
Originality: The Pon Farr thing’s been done and it seemed a lot cooler in the sexual climate of the 60’s. Sadly, it doesn’t age well. 3 out of 6.
Effects: Bizarre look for the Klingon ship, but it was still sharp. 4 out of 6.
Story: Predictable, but at least we can see some continuity within the Enterprise universe. 2 out of 6.
Acting: Lund creates an enjoyable and believable character in Skalaar. 4 out of 6.
Emotional Response: I don’t I was supposed to laugh that much at T’Pol’s clumsy attempts at seducing Phlox. 3 out of 6.
Production: I like the updated Tellarite make-up. 4 out of 6
Overall: Boring and pandering. 2 out of 6.
Total: 22 out of 42
Episode Media
From StarTrek.com
Next Time on Enterprise (May 21, 2003) *Season Finale*
A probe from an unknown alien source unleashes a devastating assault upon Earth. Enterprise is recalled, and along the way home Captain Archer acquires information that the perpetrators come from a region of space known as the Delphic Expanse — a place where very bizarre things happen, and from which few ships that enter ever return. Starfleet must now decide whether to risk sending the NX-01 into the Delphic Expanse to prevent a possible second attack. [Video Teaser]
Additional Notes and Comments
If you’re interested in what’s in TheAngryMob’s review queue, check out my What’s Coming page.
This week on Springer, Horny Aliens in the Decon Chamber!
Okay, I used the line before.
But I’ll say again, anyway: this, more than anything, has led my wife & me to finally, completely abandon Enterprise. We tuned in, figuring anything had to better than the Right Stuff rip-off, and looking forward to seeing how they would handled the Tellarite. After all, they didn’t do too badly with the Andorians, and this is the sort of thing we’d hoped to see on Enterprise. But the Tellarite plot was badly executed and it didn’t help that it was interrupted by lame softcore. Of course the show can have sexual themes, but they need to be handled intelligently. The cheesy cheesecake shots of the decon gel rubbing, T’Pol begging for sex…. First they put the “strong woman” in the obligatory bunny suit, despite the contrast this creates with every other Vulcan outfit we’ve seen, and now this. Yes, Buffy and Xena gave us strong women who could play sexy, but they kept it in context. Hell, Lara Croft is less exploitative. It played like the masturbatory fantasy of a particularly unimaginative twelve-year-old boy. And it’s not as though they’re going to attract the Girls Gone Wild audience. People who want bad sleaze have a thousand other options.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t Vulcan males go into Pon Far? Hasn’t T’Pol confirmed as much at some point? In the past, it always seemed to work like the reverse of “heat” in certain Terran mammals, with the males experiencing it and the females responding.
Did I mention I really didn’t like this episode?
you know….
…it’s a sad, sad day for Star Trek when I don’t have my Satellite hooked up (just moved) and I’m more upset that I missed Smallville & That 70’s Show and missing Enterprise is more like ‘ oh, yeah, that’s what I do on wednesdays’
Lovely.
Guess i’m not to disappointed Smallville is moving over to Wednesdays directly opposite Enterprise.
It’s too bad they have crappy storylines and a horny vulcan. I really liked what Scott Bakula was doing with his limited character.
Look at the bright side: fan fiction lives!
After watching T’Pol humping around the ship I know anyone who wants to write some crappy fan-fiction can get it on the air. Go to it kids!
Re: Look at the bright side: fan fiction lives!
So sad…and yet so true.
T’Pol was nice to look at…
… I can’t deny that. And I would be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy that on some level. But I would have easily done without that subplot if it meant the other plot would have been done better. Or they could have at least had the guts to take the it somewhere. Have Phlox cure the desease and then still need to “treat” her. Giving those two a real secret to keep.
Another thing, that Klingon ship, when Archer was running around inside I got the feeling it was a decent sized ship. Then the escape pod launched, and it was not at all tiny compared to the ship. So I was left pretty confused about the ship’s size.
Oh, and I thought Klingon ships didn’t have escape pods. Not honorable to abandon the ship and all that.
Re: T’Pol was nice to look at…
Perhaps the same thing can be said of the Romulans. Anyone ever see Star Trek: Nemesis? HUGE ship with, what I thought, was a crew of twenty with bad aim. hehehe
No such luck
I fear we have no such luck: the Pon Farr was induced by the bacteria, so not naturally occurring. We’ll get it again. After all B&B seem convinced that ST should evolve to a soft porn series to attract brain-dead teenage (mutant turtles).
suxx0rs
This was one of the worse episodes I’ve seen. It was up there with the time the settlers beat the klingons with a ring of fire and a couple of enterprise weapons…
B&B suck. That’s all there is too it. I usually try to be more generous, but this time I can’t. I feel that the whole trek sex thing is an insult to the very fans that have made this a successful franchise. I mean… we’re males, and yes we like women, but we have brains and are not solely controlled by hormones or a bag of tissue between our legs. T’Pol is nice looking, but I’d much rather see some decent sci-fi. If I wanted sex, I’d tune into fastlane or some other excuse for a show.
It seems to me like this show has no purpose. They’re just randomly swinging in the dark. I say, pick a direction and GO. Try it for a season and if it doesn’t work, then try another direction. If you’re gonna base your crappy show on sex, then by all means embrace that fully and see if it fails.
I have some hope in this next season. Even if it is a continuity smashing season, as long as they have conflict, it should be more interesting. Writers tend to do better when there is a conflict to take care of.
Maybe they should try a Trek:CSI mix. Have a small ship full of detectives who’s job is to figure out crimes done within federation jurisdiction… it would have to be set a few year in the future…